Big Boobs are a Pain! (implant, exercise, plastic surgeons, shoulders)

[cmacf1]

Originally Posted by foma

My only guess would be so that the breasts look proportional to your body?

You are right though it still doesn't make awhole lot of sense b'c if you have cancer or something then one of the options is to take the entire breast out

I'm wondering if they won't take actual breast tissue - only fat. I have a friend who had a reduction done and her doctor took her from a DDD cup to a B cup. She did look out of proportion because she was not a small person. She had a really hard time finding a bra to fit her because she needed a 42B. I haven't seen too many of them. Still, though, she said it was well worth it. She ended up losing weight and now she wears a 36B, which is an easy size to find.

[foma]

Originally Posted by cmacf1

I'm wondering if they won't take actual breast tissue - only fat. I have a friend who had a reduction done and her doctor took her from a DDD cup to a B cup. She did look out of proportion because she was not a small person. She had a really hard time finding a bra to fit her because she needed a 42B. I haven't seen too many of them. Still, though, she said it was well worth it. She ended up losing weight and now she wears a 36B, which is an easy size to find.

I wonder how that works ... your friend loses weight after the surgery. If it was a significant amount of weight, wouldn't her boobs sag? Or since you said she looked "out of proportion" losing the weight made her look proportionate? How confusing this is!

[cmacf1]

Originally Posted by foma

I wonder how that works ... your friend loses weight after the surgery. If it was a significant amount of weight, wouldn't her boobs sag? Or since you said she looked "out of proportion" losing the weight made her look proportionate? How confusing this is!

I haven't seen her since she lost the weight and we weren't close enough for me to actually see her breasts anyway - or really even to ask if they now sag . I have sent her an email and asked her basics about the procedure and whether she's still happy with how it turned out. And I have asked if losing weight made her body seem more proportionate. Didn't ask the sagging question, though (it's a really good question,though.) We were once very close, but I haven't seen her since 1993. From photos, she does look more proportionate now. She probably lost 30 pounds. It IS confusing, isn't it???

I've looked at a lot of before and after photos, some photos taken a year or two after the reduction. It's helpful to see how different people can look (and in some cases, how little change there seems to be.)

[Lindsey_Mcfarren]

OH oh oh, I have the symptoms of ulnar pro whatever, I have that same numbness but I thought it had something to do with my neck injury. I also see that neck pain is a reason for this surgery. Maybe I can get insurance to cover it after all.

I would MUCH rather have to get a push up bra or those inserts if I felt like I needed a little cleavage. BUT frankly I have had alot of cleavage, I think it would be nice to wear a V neck shirt and look down and NOT see what looks like a BUM looking back at me.

[SandyCo]

Tell you what - I'll take one of your DDs (which would probably make two Cs for me).

Originally Posted by Lindsey_Mcfarren

YOU SUCK !

I'll trade you my DD for your A.

[cmacf1]

Originally Posted by fierce_flawless

This might be helpful in answering the questions about how to go about getting insurance to cover it (if you think yours might not)... see here:

Breast Reduction - Should your insurance pay for surgery?

and a snippet from that site:

Medical Indications: Reduction mammaplasty is usually prompted by physical necessity due to the signs and symptoms of macromastia, and is, therefore, reconstructive in nature. However, it may be performed for other indications as well.

Medically Indicated Signs and Symptoms: Medically indicated symptoms include postural backache (ICD-9: 724-5,781.9), upper back and neck pain (ICD-9: 724.1,723.1), and ulnar paresthesia (782.0). Appropriate physical findings are "true" hypertrophy (611.1), and shoulder grooving and intertrigo (695.89).

Mixed Indications: Mixed symptoms include breast pain, inability to lose weight in the breast, and embarrassment. Signs include breast tenderness/pain in breast (611.71), mild breast asymmetry (611.8), poor posture (781.9) and the inability to participate in normal physical activities. These may be functionally significant in some individuals.

Cosmetic Signs and Symptoms: Cosmetic signs and symptoms include ptosis, poorly fitting clothing, unacceptable appearance and nipple-areolar distortion (V50.1). These are indications for patients undergoing a purely cosmetic reduction mammaplasty. Recommendations: Specific weight guidelines for breast-tissue resection or reduction in bra-cup size are not valid criteria for insurance coverage since they are poorly correlated with relief of the symptoms of macromastia. There are wide variations in the range of normal female height, body weight and associated breast sizes; the amount of breast tissue that must be removed to relieve symptoms therefore varies with the height and weight of each patient (for example, a small-statured woman will need proportionally less breast tissue removed to alleviate signs and symptoms of macromastia than a larger woman). Schnur (see references) has provided a logarithmic chart comparison of body surface area and excess breast tissue removed at surgery that allows separation of symptomatic women from those seeking a change in appearance.

I had to look up many of those terms, only to be surprised that some actually apply to me (I'd figured it was mostly about back/neck pain, which I also have):

Ptosis: fancy word for "breast sag"
Ulnar Paresthesia: compression of the ulnar nerve, resulting in paresthesia (numbness, tingling, and pain) in the outer side of the arm and hand near the little finger.
Intertrigo: red ‘sweat rash’ under the breasts, itchy/sore skin under the breasts

When looking for this info the other day I remember reading somewhere that some insurance providers want you to have had these problems for a certain length of time... 12 months or whatever and they want your doc to have tried this or that first (pain meds, topical skin treatments for the intertrigo, better bras, blah blah blah).

So I'm wondering; would someone with NO insurance at the present time be hurting their chances for reduction (I mean, chance for having it covered by insurance) later on, if they went right now to a "low cost clinic" doctor for the back pain and such? Could it be then labeled a pre-existing condition and used as a reason to not be covered?

WOW -- thanks for this. According to this, they should PAY ME for having my boobs reduced . I have ulnar nerve entrapment in both arms and have for a good 10+ years. I also read some research that showed that larger-breasted women are more prone to carpal tunnel problems, too. I've had carpal tunnel surgery in BOTH hands. I have not had the ulnar nerve surgery because it's far more complicated and recovery is much longer. I have not had a nerve conduction study on them, but I have numb and tingling pinkies and half of my ring fingers and palms probably 3-4 times a week that actually wakes me up. I have had many instances of rashes and yeast infections under my breasts. I've had upper back and neck pain for years, though never enough to actually seek treatment. Just general pain that is relieved by constantly taking ibuprofen (which I've taken pretty regularly for the past 10 years.)

My issue is that I've generally treated the rashes on my own by using anti-fungal creams and I've treated the back pain on my own with OTC pain relievers. I dont' have proof through seeking medical attention (though 20 years ago a doctor said I had disc issues in my upper thoracic region.) I only have my hand surgeon who knows about my ulnar nerve entrapment. Haven't had a nerve conduction study (UGH!!!!,) but if I could get my boobs reduced by having one, I'd go right now.

Thanks so much for posting this information!!!

[fierce_flawless]

Originally Posted by Lindsey_Mcfarren

OH oh oh, I have the symptoms of ulnar pro whatever, I have that same numbness but I thought it had something to do with my neck injury. I also see that neck pain is a reason for this surgery. Maybe I can get insurance to cover it after all.

I would MUCH rather have to get a push up bra or those inserts if I felt like I needed a little cleavage. BUT frankly I have had alot of cleavage, I think it would be nice to wear a V neck shirt and look down and NOT see what looks like a BUM looking back at me.

LOL!

You know, I remember way back when, before kids, when I was a 36 B and HAD to wear a push up bra and I used to joke that I could have lunch in the space between my breasts. I used to wish and wish for "at least a C cup".

Had I any idea.....

Be careful what you wish for and all that jazz!

And yes, before reading that I assumed my pinky numbness was due to my years and years of rapid text entry (Data Entry) jobs and figured I was getting Carpal Tunnel or something.

The eye opener for me (as to the weight of my chest because with "good" bras I didn't think it was connected to my shoulder pain) was when I tried to wear a halter dress. All of a sudden it felt like I had bowling balls hanging around my neck by a shoestring!

[fierce_flawless]

Originally Posted by cmacf1

WOW -- thanks for this. According to this, they should PAY ME for having my boobs reduced . I have ulnar nerve entrapment in both arms and have for a good 10+ years. I also read some research that showed that larger-breasted women are more prone to carpal tunnel problems, too. I've had carpal tunnel surgery in BOTH hands. I have not had the ulnar nerve surgery because it's far more complicated and recovery is much longer. I have not had a nerve conduction study on them, but I have numb and tingling pinkies and half of my ring fingers and palms probably 3-4 times a week that actually wakes me up. I have had many instances of rashes and yeast infections under my breasts. I've had upper back and neck pain for years, though never enough to actually seek treatment. Just general pain that is relieved by constantly taking ibuprofen (which I've taken pretty regularly for the past 10 years.)

My issue is that I've generally treated the rashes on my own by using anti-fungal creams and I've treated the back pain on my own with OTC pain relievers. I dont' have proof through seeking medical attention (though 20 years ago a doctor said I had disc issues in my upper thoracic region.) I only have my hand surgeon who knows about my ulnar nerve entrapment. Haven't had a nerve conduction study (UGH!!!!,) but if I could get my boobs reduced by having one, I'd go right now.

Thanks so much for posting this information!!!

You're very welcome, hope it helps.. and as for your history of having successfully treated pain and rashes.. well, it's not documented, now is it?

I didn't know about the carpal tunnel connection! Thanks to you for mentioning it! Man, I am SO ready to do this now, but again I'm worried about seeing a doc currently (no insurance) because when I do get a job w/insurance I do NOT want the 'pre-existing condition' thing used against me.

[Lindsey_Mcfarren]

I think I would probably eventually have some lipo on my back as well and under my arms to cut down on the extra weight there as well.

Because of my back and neck pain its difficult for me to be as active as I would like to be.

OH MAN would I love to have b cups.

I'm not sure what my little Siamese boy, Henry would do because he likes to sleep on my ample bosom and is doing so as we speak. I lean back a little on the couch and he snoozes away. He doesn't care for sleeping on the couch next to me.

[Claire_F]

Originally Posted by Lindsey_Mcfarren

Do you recall how much they took from each breast? I talked to someone one time and she said for her insurance to cover it, a certain number of lbs had to be removed.

I have also heard that a doctor will say they can only take out SO much so that might be a reason some of them say to loose weight first. However that makes no sense because they can take the entire breast if need be.

When I went to the doctor, I told him I wanted him to take as much as possible, yet still leave me looking like a girl. I wanted B cups, he took me down to a C. His reason was because if he took too much, it would not look right - it would not be proportionate to my body.

They took 5 lbs from each breast. It wasn't just fat, breast tissue was also taken.

Though 5 lbs. doesn't seem like much, it made a HUGE difference. It's just that we think they weigh more than they actually do.

Which reminds me of a story told to me by someone I knew way back when. She had very large breasts as well, and a friend of hers told her she thought they probably weighed 20 lbs each. So my friend goes home, sets a scale on the kitchen counter, whips one out and places it on the scale to weigh it.

At that precise moment, her husband walked in the room.